Susan Turcotte

When you receive gifted property, the IRS generally assigns you the donor's original adjusted basis under Section 1015 – not the fair market value at the time of the gift. If you later sell that property for more than the carryover basis, you owe ...

Under IRC Section 988, gains and losses arising from fluctuations in exchange rates on nonfunctional currency transactions are generally treated as ordinary income or loss – not capital gain – which can significantly affect your US tax bill. If you hold a foreign mortgage, maintain a bank account in local cu...

Most international wire transfers are not taxed as income. The transfer itself – moving your own money from one account to another – does not create an income tax liability, but a new 1% federal excise tax applies to certain cash-funded remittance transfers starting in 2026. What triggers IRS attention is the nature of the f...

A permanent establishment is a fixed place of business – or a dependent agent arrangement – that gives a foreign company enough presence in the US to be taxed on its business profits there. The concept sits at the center of international corporate taxation: once a PE exists, the foreign entity moves from tax-exempt observer ...

Form 1040-C is the IRS form that resident and nonresident aliens must file before leaving the United States – it reports income earned during the tax year up to the departure date and is required to obtain a sailing permit, also called a certificate of compliance. Form 1040-C is not a substitute for the an...

Form 1042 is the annual US tax return filed by withholding agents to report tax withheld on US-source income paid to foreign persons, including nonresident aliens, foreign corporations, and foreign partnerships. Withholding agents file Form 1042 with the IRS to reconcile all payments of FDAP income made to foreign persons during the cal...